Sealing stopper for manual removal and reinsertion

ABSTRACT

Cork stopper comprising an upper member ( 1 ) or head and a lower member ( 2 ) or body which are integral into a single piece, wherein said head ( 1 ) has an height of at least about 8 mm and the body ( 2 ) is cylindrical and has a length of about 10 a 30 mm and diameter of about 21 to 26 mm. The head diameter must be larger than body diameter by at least about 3 mm. Said stopper, which may be chamfered and has at least one cork disk in any end thereof, may be used with wine and beverage containers and is able to be reused manually only.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to stoppers, for beverage containers,which are able to be manually removed and reinserted without the help ofcork-screw devices and that assure the sealing of the container wheninserted for the first time, and the plugging of the container insubsequent insertions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cork stoppers are used from the XVIII Century to plug and/or seal winecontainers and are spread in the market. Generally, there were noalternatives to cork stoppers until the emergence of sealing stoppersmade from plastic material, in the middle of the nineties of the XXCentury.

The insertion of a cork stopper into a neck of a wine container isintended to plug the container and at the same time sealing it. On thecontrary, the insertion of a stopper into a container with a so-called“spirit” drink is intended to plug the container but not seal it.

The purpose of sealing a container is to avoid that drink leaks throughthe neck of the container and at the same time to avoid prematurechanges on the wine quality, which changes are usually imputed to theoxidation.

The purpose of plugging a container is only to avoid that drink leaksthrough the neck of the container.

When a stopper is used to seal, usually the container is stored in alaid down position, preventing the wine leaks and allowing a slowevolving of the wine only with the amount of oxygen which is given to itby means of the stopper itself. When a stopper is used to plug only, thecontainer is stored upright and the liquid must have enough protectionto avoid the oxidation over time or otherwise it is intended that thesame become oxidised (for example, Porto Wine and Madeira wine).

For sealing a container, cork stoppers are usually used having lengthsof about 38 to 54 mm and a diameter which is usually of 24 mm but whichcan vary according to the inner diameter of the neck. There must have adifference between the stopper diameter and the neck diameter of about5.5 to 7.5 mm, in order to assure the sealing. These stoppers areinserted into the neck by compression up to about 15.5 mm and theninserted by a piston device, one of the stopper ends remaining at thesame level as the upper end of the neck. These stoppers are neverrounded at one end thereof, but they may have a chamfer of about 2 to 4mm.

The stoppers for sparkling wines are included in this group of stopperswhich are used to seal a container. In addition to seal the containersthese stoppers may also being manually removed. This manual removal ispossible because there is an internal pressure, outwardly exerted by gasreleased by the liquid, which helps the manual removal action. However,in view of these stopper dimensions it is nearly impossible reusing themmanually due to the recovered dimensions that they get after said manualremoval action. At the exit of the production line these sparkling winestoppers have lengths of about 48 mm and diameters of about 30.5 to 31mm.

To plug a container, stoppers which have lengths of about 27 to 29 mm,rounded at its lower end along about 2 cm of the length thereof, andwith a diameter of about 19.5 to 20 mm, but which may vary according tothe neck inner diameter, are usually used. The difference between thestopper diameter and the neck inner diameter is never above 2 mm, oftenbeing 1.5 mm. The stoppers which are used to plug have crowns fromvarious materials such as plastic, glass, wood and cork. To bottle thesestoppers no compression is required, whereby the bottling is achieved bymeans of a mechanical or manual force in the longitudinal direction,from outside to inside of the container, which force will insert thestopper into the neck of the container up to the crown. The crown restsoutside the container in order to provide a later removal easier withoutthe use of any cork screw device.

The sealing stoppers from plastic material have tried to mimic the corkstoppers, either with relation to its general form, namely thedimensions and physical look thereof, or with relation to its sealingefficiency. Like for current cork stoppers, it is necessary a cork screwdevice to remove these plastic material stoppers from the neck ofrespective containers. For a very short rest period within thecontainer, a wine is able to deal with the amount of oxygen entering thecontainer due to a poor sealing provided by the plastic materialstoppers, however, for longer rest periods of the wine within thecontainer, some signs of premature oxidation arise, which significantlymodify the organoleptic characteristics of wine.

Another type of stoppers/sealings to plug and/or sealing containers ofwine, and/or similar beverages, are the threaded capsules made fromaluminium which are frequently used with other beverage than wine. Thesestoppers/sealings started to secure the wine market mainly due to astrong commercial attitude coming from Australia and New Zealand, wherea significantly amount of bottled wine is sealed with this type ofstoppers/sealings. The advantage of the threaded capsules resides in themanner they may be removed, since as a cork screw device is not neededthey may be easily removed, which is very convenient especially in thecatering sector. However, off-flavour related drawbacks arise due toreduction reactions in the wine by virtue of a complete absence ofoxygen admission.

Therefore, a need exists of a competitive price stopper which allows thewine to rest over the time, providing a sealing action and allowing foran easy removal without the use of cork screw devices and being able tobe reinserted only by manual pressure and torque.

This stopper, in addition to keep the organoleptic characteristics ofwine over the time unchanged must be able to be removed from the neck ofthe container without require a cork screw device and, additionally,must be able to be reused, allowing to be reinserted in the containerneck by means of a manual action only, without the use of any device.Following, these stoppers will be named as “SSR stopper”, that means,stopper which does not need a cork screw device for the removal andreinsertion thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cork stopper comprising an uppermember or head and a lower member or body, for using with wine and/orbeverages containers which comprises the advantages of:

-   -   assuring the sealing of said container, keeping the beverage        organoleptic characteristics unchanged;    -   does not require cork screw devices for its removal;    -   being easily reusable, manually only, for reinsertion and        removal.

Surprisingly, it has been found that the above advantages, whichovercome the drawbacks of the prior art, are achieved with the stopperof the present invention.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the cork stopper,comprising an upper member or head and a lower member or body ischaracterized by:

-   -   said head having an height of at least about 8 mm;    -   said body being cylindrical and having a diameter of about 21 to        26 mm and a length of about 10 to 30 mm.

Additionally, the cork stopper of the present invention is characterizedby said head having a diameter larger than the diameter of the body byat least about 3 mm, and by the shape of said stopper head beingcylindrical, cubical, parallelepipedic, conical and the like.

Said cork stopper of the invention can be made from natural cork,clogged natural cork, agglomerated cork and combination thereof, saidhead and/or said body may comprise at least one disk from natural cork.Said disk is a well known member for the skilled in the art, which diskcan be bonded to any of the stopper ends. The cork stopper of theinvention may have also, at least in one of its stopper ends, onechamfer of about 2 to 4 mm.

In a preferred embodiment, said cork stopper head of the invention musthave a diameter of 30 mm and a height of 20 mm and said body having adiameter of 23 mm and length of 25 mm.

In a further preferred embodiment, said head must have a diameter of 30mm and height of 20 mm, said body having a diameter of 23 mm and lengthof 27 mm, the lower end of the body being chamfered with one chamfer of2 mm.

Still in a further preferred embodiment, said head must have a diameterof 30 mm and a height of 15 mm, said body having a diameter of 24 mm andlength of 27 mm, the lower end of the body being chamfered with onechamfer of 4 mm.

In another preferred embodiment, said head must have a diameter of 30 mmand height of 20 mm, the head comprising one natural cork disk of 15 mmheight, said body having a diameter of 23 mm and length of 25 mm, thelower end of the body being chamfered with one chamfer of 4 mm.

Still in another preferred embodiment, said head must have a diameter of30 mm and height of 20 mm, the head comprising one natural cork disk of15 mm height, said body having a diameter of 21 mm and a length of 25mm, the lower end of the body being chamfered with one chamfer of 4 mm.

The stopper of the present invention is suitable to plug containerswhich have beverage selected from the group comprising wine, beer,spirit drinks, water, refrigerants and the like.

A detailed description of the invention is following carried out withreference to preferred embodiments (by way of example) and to theaccompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a prior art stopper;

FIG. 2A is a schematic side view of a first embodiment of the SSRstopper of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a schematic side view of second and third embodiments of theSSR stopper of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a fourth embodiment of the SSRstopper of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a graphic which shows the absorption in bottle as a functionof time from a sealing ability test;

FIG. 5 is a graphic which shows the free SO₂ content as a function oftime from a sealing ability test;

FIG. 6 is a graphic which shows the total SO₂ content as a function oftime for different stoppers used in a sealing ability test.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a novel cork stopper comprising anupper member (1) or head and a lower member (2) or body, for use withwine and/or beverage containers.

This Novel Stopper Fully Overcomes the Drawbacks of the Prior ArtStoppers.

In this description, the term “cork stopper” relates to stoppers madefrom natural cork, clogged natural cork, agglomerated cork andcombination thereof. According to ISO 2190, the term “agglomerated corkstopper” relates to an agglomerated cork stopper comprising at least 51%(by weight) of granulated cork having a minimum grain size of 0.5 mm, amaximum specific weight of 60 Kg/m³ and a water content equal or lessthan 8%. The term “manual” relates to any action performed by a userwithout using any automated, mechanical, electrical, electronic devicesor the like. The term “rounded stopper” relates to a stopper which edge,of any of its ends, is rounded by friction. Additionally, the term“chamfered stopper” relates to a stopper which edge, of any of its ends,is angularly cut, in order to decrease the face diameter of any of saidends, for example, to make easy to insert the stopper into the neck. Theterm “reuse” relates to a stopper which may be used for multipleinsertions and/or removal from the neck of the container. The terms“first bottling” or “first bottling action” relates to the first time,after its production, a stopper is inserted into the container neck.Usually this first action is performed in the factory and is usuallydone in an automated manner. The term “disk” relates to a cork memberwhich can be bonded to any of the stopper ends. Usually this memberadheres to stopper end(s) by means of gluing and has exactly the sameprofile with respect to the end(s) where it is adhered. Usually itsheight is higher than at least about 1 mm, but may vary significantly.Usually this member is made from natural cork which has better qualitythan the respective cork where it is adhered.

Generally the stoppers of the prior art are divided into threecategories.

The first category includes stoppers which seal a beverage container.This type of stoppers does not allow for its manual removal due thestopper is fully inserted within the neck of the container, and sorequire a cork screw device for the removal. These stoppers can not beused to plug again (i.e., being reinserted in the same container) bymeans of a manual action only, or otherwise it is necessary to apply anhigh manual force after a rotation of 180° of the stopper ends toachieve such task, thus inserting the starting upper end of the stopperin the edge of the neck in order to subsequently push the stopper intothe container neck. This manual reuse action is achievable because thefit end of the stopper which was not in contact with the liquid in thecontainer during the starting bottling is used, since it does not have astarting shape recovery with the same magnitude as the initial bottlinglower end which have contacted the beverage, thus being possible toreinsert it into the neck of the container in a reusing situation.However this process is not advisable nor desirable as the current fitend of the stopper would have been subjected to a mechanical action ofdrilling by a cork screw device by the time of removal, whereby it hasits integrity damaged by said drilling action and additionally therequired manual force to insert it into the neck is so high that oftendamages the current fit end. Note that this latter end was exposed toenvironment and to the user handling, whereby, in the sake ofhealthfulness, it is not advisable to be brought in contact with thebeverage. Accordingly, when the stopper is reused, the hole drilled onits end will face the beverage inside the container, thus releasingstopper material debris to said beverage. This event is not desirable.Another drawback resides in the mechanical process to remove the stopperfrom the container neck that includes the use of a cork screw device,which device often does a through hole, end to end, in the stopper andtherefore the resulting stopper debris falls into the beverage, which isnot desirable either. Additionally, this fully drilled stopper loses itsability to plug the container.

The second category includes stoppers usually used in sparkling winecontainers, for example. These stoppers also seal the containers butthey differ from the preceding category because they allow for manualremoval. These stoppers have about 30.5 to 31 mm diameter (d) and about48 mm length (c), FIG. 1, whereby the manual removal is achievable onlydue to the internal pressure outwardly exerted by gas released by thebeverage itself, which pressure helps the manual removal action.Additionally, it becomes nearly impossible to reuse these stoppersmanually due to its recovered external diameter (d) after the removalaction.

Lastly, the third category comprises stoppers which are designed to plug(but not sealing) the containers, so as to prevent only beverage leaksthrough the neck of the container. These stoppers, used with containershaving the so-called “spirit” beverages, are usually able to be usedmanually only but they do not seal the container. These stoppers, asabove mentioned, are formed by a cylindrical body with a small lengthand by a removal crown.

In the first and second categories, said sealing stoppers have lengths(c) which may vary from about 38 to 54 cm and diameters (d) which musthave a difference between the stopper diameter (d) and the neck diameterof about 5.5 to 7.5 mm, in order to assure the sealing effect. Thesestoppers are formed as single pieces by boring of natural cork or byextrusion or moulding of granulated cork, having a cylindrical shape,and the bottling process being usually mechanical and including, in bothcases, a starting insertion into the neck of the container with aprevious compression and a subsequent use of a piston so as to insertthe remaining of the stopper into the container.

In the third category, the beverage container plug only stoppers havelengths which vary from about 27 to 29 mm and diameters which must havea difference between the stopper diameter and the neck diameter nothigher than 2 mm. These stoppers comprise a head/crown and a body whichare usually formed from different materials. The bottling process isperformed by a mechanical or manual force, which is longitudinallyexerted from outwards to inwards with respect to the container, toinsert the stopper into the neck of the container up to the crown.

The novel stopper of the present invention will form a fourth stoppercategory because it is able to seal and at the same time is manuallyremovable, it is able to be reused/reinserted into the same containerwithout the risk of become damaged or deteriorate the container content,and high forces or the use of mechanical devices are not required to theremoval/reinsertion.

Therefore, the novel stopper of the present invention overcomes thedrawbacks from the stoppers of the prior art, and gathers the mainadvantages of the latter.

With reference to FIG. 2A-3, the SSR stopper herein disclosed comprisestwo members (1, 2). The existence of two members (1, 2), upper andlower, respectively, having different well defined sizes imparts themanual reuse ability to the SSR stopper, while keeping the sealingability of the prior art sealing stoppers by the time of the firstbottling. This association of features were not possible with stoppersof prior art.

In order to assure such a manual only reuse, the upper member (1) orhead of the SSR stopper is the part of the SSR stopper which remainsoutside the container neck after bottling, and must have an height (a′,a″) of at least about 8 mm, and if it has a circular profile, must havea diameter (da′, da″) which must be larger than the diameter (d′, d″) ofthe body (2) by at least about 3 mm. It should be pointed out that theprofile of the SSR stopper head (1) may be not circular only, beingallowed to assume any profile obtainable by the SSR stopper productionprocesses. It is also contemplated that the head (2) may comprise atleast one cork disk (4) with the same profile in its upper end, ifdesired.

The lower member (2) or body of the SSR stopper must be cylindrical andmay comprise at least one cork disk (4) with the same profile and/or achamfer (3) on its lower end. This lower member (2) or body is the partof the SSR stopper which remains fully within the container neck afterbottling. Surprisingly, it was found that in order to achieve a combinedability of manual only reuse and sealing features, the SSR stopper body(2) must have a length (c′, c″) of about 10 to 30 mm and, for the caseof standard necks having diameters from 16.5 to 18 mm, must have adiameter (d′, d″) of about 21 to 26 mm. As can be confirmed, thedimensions (c′, c″; d′, d″) of the SSR stopper body (2) of the presentinvention, particularly the length (c′, c″) of the SSR stopper body (2),reside between the production values for sealing stoppers and theproduction values for plugging but not sealing stoppers, both from priorart.

In the bottling process, the SSR stopper head (1) must be abutted to theedge of the container neck, the SSR stopper body (2) being fullyinserted into the neck.

The reinsertion process of a SSR stopper into a container neck issimilar to that used for the plugging but not sealing stoppers of priorart, being able to be performed in a manual only manner, which overcomesin this case the lack of starting sealing action (after the firstbottling action) evidenced by stoppers of prior art, since the SSRstopper of the invention assures the container sealing in the startingbottling.

With respect to sealing stoppers of prior art, the SSR stopper of thepresent invention is clearly advantageous because it keeps theadvantages of the sealing action but overcomes the problems related withthe manual removal and reuse evidenced by said sealing stoppers of priorart.

With reference to FIG. 2A, in a preferred embodiment according to theinvention, an SSR stopper comprises an upper member (1) or head, havinga circular cross-section, and a cylindrical lower member (2) or body.The head (1) and the body (2) are formed into a single cork piece. Thehead (1) has a diameter (da′) of 30 mm and an height (a′) of 20 mm, thebody (2) having a diameter (d′) of 23 mm and a length (c′) of 25 mm

With reference now to FIG. 2B, in another preferred embodiment accordingto the invention, an SSR stopper comprises a head (1), having a circularcross-section, and a cylindrical body (2). The head (1) and the body (2)are formed into a single cork piece. The head (1) has a diameter (da′)of 30 mm and a height (a′) of 20 mm, the body (2) having a diameter (d′)of 23 mm and a length (c′) of 27 mm. This SSR stopper is furtherchamfered with a chamfer (3) of 2 mm, on the lower end of the stopperbody (2).

Still with respect to FIG. 2B, in another preferred embodiment accordingto the invention, an SSR stopper comprises a head (1), having a circularcross-section, and a cylindrical body (2). The head (1) and the body (2)are formed into a single cork piece. The head (1) has a diameter (da′)of 30 mm and an height (a′) de 15 mm, the body (2) having a diameter(d′) of 24 mm and a length (c′) of 27 mm and the lower end of the body(2) being chamfered with a chamfer (3) of 4 mm.

In relation to FIG. 3, in another preferred embodiment according to theinvention, an SSR stopper comprises a head (1) having a circularcross-section and a cylindrical body (2). The head (1) and the body (2)are formed into a single cork piece. The head has a diameter (da″) of 30mm and a height (a″) of 20 mm, comprising one disk (4) having an height(ad″) of 15 mm. The body (2) has a diameter (d″) of 23 mm, length (c″)of 25 mm and a chamfer (3) of 4 mm on the lower end thereof.

Still with reference to FIG. 3, still in another preferred embodiment,said head (1) has a diameter (da″) of 30 mm and an height (a″) of 20 mm,the head (1) comprising one disk (4), from natural cork, of 15 mmheight, said body (2) having a diameter (d″) of 21 mm and a length (c″)of 25 mm, the lower end of the body being chamfered with a chamfer (3)of 4 mm.

EXAMPLE 1 Ease of Manual Removal

A number of agglomerated cork stoppers with the dimensions shown intable 1 were produced by extrusion followed of grinding to desired sizein order to test it with bottles having standard neck (CETIE).

All the produced stoppers, shown in table 1, were subjected to astandard surface treatment with Bopsil in an amount of 15 mg/stopper.The stoppers were further subjected to a white washing process.

TABLE 1 SSR stoppers and respective dimensions Head Body Height DiamLenght Diam Chamfer (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) SSR 1 20 30 25 23 — SSR 220 30 27 23 2 SSR 3 15 27 30 24 — SSR 4 15 27 38 24 — SSR 5 15 27 45 24— SSR 6 10 27 30 24 — SSR 7 10 27 38 24 — SSR 8 10 27 45 24 — SSR 9 1527 25 24 — SSR 10 10 27 25 24 — SSR 11 15 30 30 24 — SSR 12 15 30 35 24— SSR 13 10 30 30 24 — SSR 14 10 30 35 24 — SSR 15 15 30 27 24 4 SSR 1615 30 20 21 — SSR 17 15 30 15 21 — SSR 18 15 30 10 21 — SSR 19 15 30 2026 — SSR 20 15 30 20 25 —

Bottling tests with bottles having standard neck (CETIE) were made usingthe above stoppers (Table 1). It was intended to assess how easilypersons with different muscular strength were able to remove thestoppers from the bottlenecks. The results are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Qualitative assessment of SSR stopper removal SSR Woman 1 Woman2 Man 1 Man 2 1 A A A A 2 A A A A 3 C C C C 4 C C C C 5 C C C C 6 C C CC 7 C C C C 8 C C C C 9 A A A A 10 C C B B 11 C C B B 12 C C B B 13 C CC C 14 C C C C 15 A A A A 16 A A A A 17 A A A A 18 A A A A 19 C C B B 20C C B B A. easy B. difficult C. impossible

The above Table 2 shows a relation between the stoppers of Table 1 andthe ease of removal of the same from standard neck containers. Theassessment of such ease of stopper removal was made in a qualitativemanner by groups of persons with different muscular strengths.Therefore, the A letter means an easy removal, the B letter means adifficult removal and the C letter means impossible to remove.

Based on said assessment it was possible to select ideal dimensions forSSR stoppers of the present invention so as to be possible to removethem manually from standard bottlenecks. As can be seen from Table 2,said ideal stoppers are that numbered with 1, 2, 9, 15, 16, 17 and 18.

EXAMPLE 2 Sealing Ability Test

Bottling tests were made to check the sealing ability of SSR stoppers ofthe present invention by comparison with the sealing ability ofagglomerated stoppers of prior art.

The stoppers selected for comparison were:

-   -   agglomerated stoppers of prior art having 38×24 mm        (length×diameter);    -   SSR stoppers 15 (of Table 1 from example 1), which head has 30        mm diameter and 15 mm height and which body has 27 mm length and        24 mm diameter with a chamfer of 4 mm.

All the agglomerated stoppers of prior art were made in a conventionalmanner, by extrusion of rods having 25 mm, and subjected to a standardsurface treatment using Bopsil, 15 mg/stopper, and a white washing.

All the SSR stoppers 15 were made by extrusion of 32 mm rods, followedof grinding and subjected to a standard surface treatment using Bopsil,15 mg/stopper. These stoppers were split into two groups, one of thegroups was subjected to a white washing process (SSR stoppers 15 b) andthe other group was subjected to a cork like colour washing process (SSRstoppers 15 c).

With respect to the production process, although an extrusion is usedfor both types stoppers, the feed rate and temperature of the extrusiondevice are different in relation to the SSR stoppers of the inventionand the agglomerated stoppers of prior art, due to different dimensions(above-mentioned) of respective rods.

Greenish-white wine from “Sociedade Vinhos Borges” was used in thebottling test as well as “Bordalesas” bottles having a 750 mL capacityand a greenish colour.

The stoppers were delivered as follows:

35 bottles with agglomerated stoppers;

20 bottles with SSR stoppers 15 b;

20 bottles with SSR stoppers 15 c.

Due to different shape of stoppers, a wine bottling line was used tobottle the agglomerated stoppers and a champagne bottling line was usedto bottle the SSR stoppers.

All of the bottles were stored in a laid down position at the roomtemperature.

The bottles were analyzed and grouped as shown in the following Table:

N^(o) of Bottles per Stoppers Time Agglomerate SSR 15b SSR 15c 0 months2 2 2 3 months 6 6 6 6 months 10 5 5 12 months  10 5 5

During the test all the SSR stoppers 15 were removed and reinsertedfrom/into the bottles quite easily after 3, 6 and 12 months.

With respect to FIG. 4, in relation to the absorption in bottle, theshown results were achieved by variation of stopper weights measuredbefore the starting bottling and after its removal in the end of eachtime period shown in the figure.

It was found that the absorption in the SSR stoppers is low andsubstantially lower than that of the agglomerated stoppers of the priorart. This occur since, due to the differences in the production process(described above), the SSR stoppers (formed herein from 32 mm rods) aremore compressed than the agglomerated stoppers of the prior art (formedfrom 25 mm rods) and therefore the absorption of the former is lowerthan that of the latter. Additionally to the production process, theformulation used in the SSR stoppers has an amount of paraffin which isslightly higher than that used in the agglomerated stoppers of priorart. This may explain the different absorption, which means theabsorption differences found in both types of stoppers do not have anyrelation with the shape thereof.

With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the shown results relative to theplotted lines related with the amount of the free SO₂ (FIG. 5) and totalSO₂ (FIG. 6), were achieved by potentiometric titration.

The progress of free and total SO₂ amounts is the same for both SSRstoppers 15 b and SSR stoppers 15 c. On the contrary, the losses of freeand total SO2 in sealed wines having agglomerated stoppers of the priorart are lower, because, due to its higher absorption, these stoppers getexpanded and therefore achieve a tightly adjustment to the neck.

Also, the total SO₂ amounts are higher after 12 months, because thecompany that carried out the measurements have changed the method usedin the preceding measurements. However, this fact does not interferewith the results, since the relative value between sealings is the same.

EXAMPLE 3 Profile Tasting Test

Along 3 test periods a profile tasting test was carried out bycomparison between wines sealed with SSR stoppers of the invention andagglomerated stoppers of the prior art. The purpose of this test was tocheck either the wine quality change according to the sealing or not.This test was carried out with the help of a triangular test accordingto the rule NF ISO V09-013.

The stoppers used in this test were the same as in the precedingexample, comprising agglomerated stoppers of prior art and SSRb and SSRcstoppers of the present invention. Arrangements of three samples of winewere made. Each wine taster had necessarily to report one of said threesamples as being different from the others (even if he/she did not findany in such condition). Following, the correct answers were establishedand compared with a so-called critical number which matched with theminimum number of correct answers in order to assume the samples asstatistically different. This critical number is established in a tableof the ISO rule and varies with the number of the tasters.

In order to clarify the above-mentioned, there is shown below the Table3 including the test data.

TABLE 3 Profile tasting tests CA NP NRC NCr Res A, SSRb, SSRb 9 2 6 nsA, A, SSRb 9 3 6 ns SSRb, SSRb, A 9 3 6 ns SSRb, A, SSRb 9 3 6 ns A, A,SSRb 9 2 6 ns Total of answers 45 13 21 ns A, A, SSRc 9 3 6 ns SSRc,SSRc, A 9 3 6 ns SSRc, A, SSRc 9 2 6 ns A, SSRc, A 9 3 6 ns F5, SSRc, A9 4 6 ns Total of answers 45 15 21 ns

The meaning of items shown in the above table is as it follows:

“CA”—Sample control,

“NP”—Number of tasters,

“NRC”—Number of correct answers,

“NCr”—Critical number,

“Res”—Results,

“ns”—wine which did not change,

“A”, “F5”—stoppers of the prior art.

With respect to the oxidation after 3 and 6 months, tasters did notnotice any significant statistical difference between wines. After 12months, three of the tasters considered that 3 bottles havingagglomerated stoppers of the prior art have oxidized, althoughstatistically such difference was not significant.

In relation to the sealing ability, the bottling test along one yearhave proved that the SSR stoppers according to the present invention,have a behaviour similar to that of agglomerated stoppers of prior artused as the reference stoppers. The differences found with respect toabsorption are due to the different production process used (asabove-mentioned) and not to the dimensions and shape of stoppers.

In relation to the SSR stoppers of the present invention, these haveproved its ability to a manual only reuse, since they were easilyremoved and reinserted from/into the bottles.

The results show clearly that after 12 months the SSR stoppers of thepresent invention have a sealing ability similar to the agglomeratedstoppers of the prior art used as reference stoppers in the bottlingtest.

1. A cork stopper comprising: an upper member or head and a lower memberor body; where the head has a height (a′, a″) of at least about 8 mm;and where the body is cylindrical and has a diameter (d′, d″) of about21 to 26 mm and length (c′, c″) of about 10 to 30 mm.
 2. The corkstopper according to claim 1, where the head has a diameter (da′, da″)that is larger than the diameter (d′, d″) of the body by at least about3 mm
 3. The cork stopper according to claim 1, where the head has ashape selected from the group consisting of cylindrical, cubical,parallelepipedic, and conical.
 4. The cork stopper according to claim 1,where the stopper comprises a material selected from the groupconsisting of natural cork, clogged natural cork, agglomerated cork andcombinations thereof.
 5. The cork stopper according to claim 1, wherethe head comprises at least one disk of natural cork, or the bodycomprises at least one disk of natural cork, or both the head and thebody comprise at least one disk of natural cork.
 6. The cork stopperaccording to claim 1, where the head has a chamfer of about 2 to 4 mm,or the body has a chamfer of about 2 to 4 mm, or both the head and thebody have a chamfer of about 2 to 4 mm
 7. The cork stopper according toclaim 1, where the head has a diameter (da′, da″) of 30 mm and a height(a′, a″) of 20 mm, and the body has a diameter (d′, d″) of 23 mm andlength (c′, c″) of 25 mm.
 8. The cork stopper according to claim 1,where the head has a diameter (da′, da″) of 30 mm and a height (a′, a″)of 20 mm, the body has a diameter (d′, d″) of 23 mm and a length (c′,c″) of 27 mm, and the body is chamfered with a chamfer of 2 mm.
 9. Thecork stopper according to claim 1, where the head has a diameter (da′,da″) of 30 mm and a height (a′, a″) of 15 mm, the body has a diameter(d′, d″) of 24 mm and a length (c′, c″) of 27 mm, and the body ischamfered with a chamfer of 4 mm.
 10. The cork stopper, according toclaim 1, where the head has a diameter (da′, da″) of 30 mm and a height(a′, a″) of 20 mm, the head comprising one disk with a height (ad″) of15 mm, the body has a diameter (d′, d″) of 23 mm, and a length (c′, c″)of 25 mm, and the body is chamfered with a chamfer of 4 mm.
 11. The corkstopper according to claim 1, where the head has a diameter (da″) of 30mm and a height (a″) of 20 mm, the head comprises one disk with a height(ad″) of 15 mm, the body has a diameter (d″) of 21 mm, and a length (c″)of 25 mm, and the body is chamfered with a chamfer of 4 mm.
 12. A methodof using the cork stopper according to claim 1, the method comprisingplugging containers with the cork stopper, where the containers have abeverage selected from the group consisting of wine, beer, spiritdrinks, water, and refrigerants.